Means for finishing laundered shirts



May 28, 1940. 1.. R. MORSE MEANS FOR FINISHING LAUNDERED sHIR'rs Filed June 7. 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 28, 1940. R. MORSE I 2 MEANS FOR FINISHING LAUNDERED SHIRTS Filed June 7; 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented May 28, 1940 t v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MEANS on FINISHING LAUNDERED SHIRTS Leland It. Morse, ohicago lll. Application June 7, 1937, Serial No. 146,797

1 Claim. (01. 223- 37) This invention relates to improvements in Figure 3 is a fragmentary top plan View of the I the means for finishing shirts in laundries and assembly table illustrating the first stepin the preparing them for delivery, and more particufolding of a shirt thereon.

larly to an assembly table in which the laundered Figure 4 is a fragmentary view in perspective 5 shirt board and shirt band are assembled as the illimtrating another step in the folding of a shirt. 5 shirt is folded and finished on the table, Figure 5 is a fragmentary top plan view of the Heretofore, laundered shirts have been finished assembly table illustrating another step in the upon a table having an opening of sufficient size folding of a shirt. to receive the neck-band of a collarless shirt or Figure 6 is a similar view illustrating the folded in the collar attached to a shirt during the folding shirt about to be detached from the holding 10 operation, referred to above. It has also been means. customary to put the finishing touches by a Figure s a view in perspective illustratin hand-operated iron on a freshly laundered shirt shirt folded in the manner illustrated inFigures spread back down upon such a table, then by 3 to 6, inclusive.

l5 grasping the shoulders of the shirt reverse it F gure 3 iS a detail p V w Of the S t ba d upon the board with the collar received within or Wrapper illustrated in Figures 3 to 7,.inclusive. the table opening, place the shirt board, if one In folding a s y undered Shirt into a is used, longitudinally along the center of the laundry package in accordance with this imshirt, fold the sleeves and sides over each other, proved method,v it is prefer to e p oy a S r so andfold the tail upon the body to complete the a y table, s t t d n F u es 1 and 2 fold. The collar being received within the table o e W S- This b e includes an Oblong opening not only prevents the collar neck-band flat surface upon which the shirt may be spread, from becoming rumpled during the folding but and, if desired, finished by hand. The table body also positions and anchors the shirt during. the I m y be upp d n s 2 r ay be pr v d folding process. with transverse supports 3 adapted to rest upon 25 It is an object of this invention to provide another table and space apart the body I therea shirt finishing table having a collar-receiving from to clear the attachments upon. the underopening, such as above described, with additional side thereof. It is preferable to provide a collar means for carrying out a novel method of folding recess t adjacent the left edge of the body I a laundered shirt over a shirt board in conon the side of the longitudinal center line nearest 3Q junction with a shirt band or wrapper having the operator and also a rectangular opening 5 a cut-out notch to accommodate the collar neckadjacent the same end and adjacent the edge of bandto assemble a laundry package as disclosed the table opposite the operator for receiving. a in my former Patent No. 2,026,645, of January 7, commercial label .or strip moistening device. A 1936. It is also an object of this invention to proshirt band or wrapper, shirt board, and collar 35 vide such a shirt finishing table with a-means protector receptacle 6 is preferably detachably for retaining and positioning a supply of shirt mounted upon the end of the table adjacent the bands or wrappers, shirt boards and collar supcollar recess 4., Tables of this character are ports ina manner most convenient to the op preferably covered with a pad which requires no erator to reduce the movements and increase the replacing about every six months. The pad efficiency of the operator in assembling the shirt must be cut out to correspond to the collar recess package. 4 and moistening machine opening 5. It is pref- With these and other objects in view reference erable to provide a metallic member 1 correis made to the accompanying sheets of drawings sponding in shape to said openings having an A5 illustrating an embodiment of this invention, outturned flange 8 so that when themember is with the understanding that minor changes may inserted in the opening the flange will hold the be .made without departing from the scope pad in place upon the upper surface of the thereof. table body. If desired, an opening 9 may be pro- In the drawings: v vided in the table for receiving a dampening de- Figure 1 is a top plan view of a shirt finishing vice for moistening the cloth used in finishing 50 and assembling table, including the improvethe shirt by hand, and this requires a similar ments of this invention. a opening to be made in the pad and a member 1 Figure 2 is a view in vertical section taken on with a flange 8 similar to the collar recess memthe'line 2-2 of Figure 1 looking in the direction her 1 and flange 8, shown in Figure 2 which may of the arrows. be inserted in the opening for the dampening 55 device and hold the pad in the same manner as heretofore described. A sadiron support I0 may be secured in any desired manner upon the upper side of the pad. When the dampening device and sadiron are employed, the aperture and stand therefor are arranged adjacent the right edge of the table with the dampening device in the corner most distant from the operator.

The collar recess 4 is sufiiciently large to receive the largest size collar attached to a shirt and is provided with a collar anchor in the form of a block I I arranged centrally within the collar recess and preferably mounted upon a bar I2 secured to the underside of the table body I. An aperture I 3 is also provided through the table body I between the edge of the collar recess 4 and the left edge of the table providing a passageway for a flexible member or cord I4 attached upon the upper side of the table to a clip or clamp I 5 and at the opposite end to a counterweight IS.

The receptacle 6 is preferably made of metal and provides separate compartments for shirt bands Il, shirt boards l8, and collar supports I9, one above the other in the order named.

As the shirt bands or wrappers are generally a standard length of nineteen inches and of various widths this compartment is constructed to be of sufficient size to receive the band with its longest side parallel to the adjacent end of the table, and, therefore, the depth of this receptacle will vary in accordance with the widths of the bands and be of such depth that the longitudinal edge of the band adjacent thetable end will project slightly beyond the upper end of the receptacle. The opposite end of the receptacle is closed at an angle so that the succeeding bands will each project over the edge of the one below it, as shown in Figure 2. The compartment for the shirt boards I8 is preferably divided in two sections. The shirt boards I8 are generally of a standard size of eight inches by sixteen inches and the compartments are of such size as to receive the boards lengthwise with the edges extending slightly beyond the open end with the opposite end closed at an angle so that the edges of the succeeding boards will each extend over the edge of the one below it, as shown in Figure 2. Most laundry packages include a cardboard collar support of some kind. The lower compartment provided for the collar supports is preferably divided into three sections and is of less width than the two sections thereabove. The collar supports I9 are usually flat strips and the receptacle is of such size that the lowermost strip will extend slightly beyond the open end thereof and the rear end closes at an angle so that the edge of each succeeding strip will project beyond the edge of the one below, as shown in Figure 2.

It is preferable to attach the receptacle 6 by means of two parallel spaced-apart supports 29 extending from and seemed to the under surface of the table body I having a transverse connecting bar 2 I, whereby the bottom of the board compartment I8 will rest upon the ends of the parallel supports 20 and the closed end of the collar support compartment I9. engage the transverse support ZI between the parallel bars with the bottom of the open end resting upon the end of the table, as shown in Figure 2.

By the construction of the assembly table just described, a laundered shirt may be folded in accordance with this invention with the least manual movement on the part of the operator. The shirt is first placed upon the board with the sleeves spread out lengthwise of the board and with the collar on the upper side. The operator then removes the top shirt band wrapper II from the receptacle 6 and places it over the shirt with the cut-out portion IIa passed under the points of the collar to engage the shirt band and the sleeves folded parallel to the sides, as shown in Figure 3. The shirt with the band I1 is then reversed, as shown in Figure 4, and the collar of the shirt placed in the collar recess 4. A shirt board I8 is then taken from the receptacle 6 and placed centrally of the shirt with the short left-hand edge adjacent the outer edge of the collar band and the shirt sleeves are then folded in and the sides of the shirt are lapped over the board. The lapped edges of the shoulders are drawn sufliciently together to cause the board I8 to bow outwardly. The clip I5 is then engaged with the lapped shoulder portions, as shown in Figure 5. This clip I5 holds the board bowed while the tail of the shirt is folded up over the opposite end of the board and the opposite edges of the shirt band or wrapper I'I lapped over each other. The operator then removes from the moistening machine in the opening 5 a moistened label or a moistened strip or tape I73 and secures the overlapped edges of the shirt band together. By grasping the end of the finished package opposite the collar the shirt may be detached from the clip I5 by a quick upward and outward movement, as shown in Figure 6, and the laundry package is ready for transportation or storage, as shown in Figure '7.

If the shirt is to be finished manually, of course, it is to be understood that a moistening device is placed in the opening 9 and a sadiron support III will be attached to the table body.

From the above description it is readily seen that by the employment of a shirt assembly table, such as above described, the shirt can be folded into the improved. laundry package as disclosed in my said prior Patent No. 2,026,645 of January '7, 1936, most efiiciently and with less expenditure of effort on the part of the operator, which increases the efficicncy and capacity of the operator.

When the shirt is detached from the clip I5 the counter-weight l5 automatically returns the clip to the surface of the table and holds it so that it will not obstruct the folding of the next shirt. The collar-positioning block II anchors the shirt as it enters into the aperture formed by the collar and prevents the shirt from slipping around during the folding process. It is to be noted that the receptacle 6 presents first the shirt band wrapper H, the removal of which is the first step in this method of folding the shirt. The board I8 is supported just below the shirt band and is the next article removed from the receptacle in folding the shirt. If it is desired to use a collar support I9, it is applied after the package has been completed as the last step in this method, and the collar supports I9 are contained in the receptacle under the shirt boards I8, whereby each article in the receptacle is positioned in the order in which it is used by the operator.

While the collar support has been described above as being inserted as the last operation, in some cases, it may be inserted as the first step in the folding of the shirt.

What I claim is:

A finishing table for laundered collar-attached shirts having an opening in the top adjacent one engage the shoulder portions of the shirt after the sides and shoulders are folded over a shirt board and hold the shirt in position until a shirt band has been applied to bow the shirt board and secure the shoulder portions in overlapped 5 relation.

LELAND R. MORSE. 

